I like chainmail bikinis!

Why yes, I think they are fantastic! I'm also easily annoyed by people saying they are unrealistic and "break the immersion". Guess what, 99% of the stuff you see in any D&D campaign is completely unrealistic. This includes the fact that your characters are allowed to run around with weapons and in armor while not being nobility. Unless one of the party is a noble of some type, every adventuring party would be jailed, and possibly tortured and executed, just for carrying a sword.

War paint

A number of ancient peoples used to wear war paint into battle (many American Indian tribes and the Celts). They also believed it granted them protection, and allowed them to conquer their fears in the face of an enemy. I really like this idea, and I definitely am interested in allowing this to affect S&W.

I think a good house rule would be that warriors who have prepared themselves with war paint gain a +1 to their Armor Class. This may be slightly magical in nature, due to the favor of the gods. Or it might just be that the war paint grants them enough confidence that they will take risks and fight better than they otherwise would have.

My one wish about S&W

...is that there would be a way to have the players want to run around in light armor, instead of the heaviest plate they can find. Yes, I know there are creative ways I can do this (excess heat, armor prices, etc), but they feel forced. And my friends would have immediately caught on to what I was doing and would get grumpy.


With the rules as written, it's really hard to get someone to have a "hoplite" style character with helm, shield, and spear, and maybe leg greaves. It's too bad. But I guess that's what Runequest is for. :)

Why I prefer Ascending AC in my "clone" games

It seems to me that many old-school gamers feel that the retro-clones should be put in some kind of straitjacket, where as little deviation as possible is allowed. While I support the games being 95% the same, I really prefer the ascending Armor Class as introduced by DnD 3e.

Ascending AC is much easier to use in game, and very easy to explain to new players. It also is very friendly to math-averse players, as they can see the number they need without having to look at a table. It also takes up a lot less space in the rulebook, as you just need to add the Base-to-hit number in each class chart, and don't need another half to full page chart for players. In addition, just having monster BtH equal their HD will save an additional chart in the game, and makes it even easier for the DM.

I understand that many DMs want the old style, as then they won't have to do any conversions of older modules. But at least a few of them are fairly strident in saying that Ascending AC should not even be included in the retro games. It's the "Stay off my lawn!" syndrome. And it seems to be fairly prevalent in older gamers. I believe that having Ascending AC as the default, or at least as an option, will help bring in newer ex-3e players, as it's something they are already familiar with.

And like it or not, I think the Old School Revival needs at least a small influx of new players as time goes on, or it will sputter out and die in a few years, which would be very unfortunate. The current grognards aren't getting any younger, and to maintain at least some type of player base, new people, preferably younger, will be needed. Of course, this is looking at it from a publisher viewpoint, and not a gamer viewpoint, so many grognards will happily say they need no new blood, as long as they get their 4 or 5 new modules every year.